Former Geelong Falcon Charlie Farrell may also not be sighted until late April as he enters the final stages of his rehab of a ruptured anterior cruciate ligament, while the luckless Mitch Cuthill is continuing to battle issues with his meniscus.

The Drysdale product has played just five senior games in the last two seasons.

“He’s just had setback after setback after setback and I really feel for him because he’s got still a lot to offer from a football sense, and is certainly a player we want to have involved,” Rayner said.

“But at this stage he’s just got to work through the pros and cons and what he actually does.

“At our level there’s obviously other commitments such as financial and work and so forth. It’s not a full-time occupation.

“He’s got to make the best decision moving forward based on what he thinks is the right thing to do and we’ll support him in that process, whatever it is.

“But, hopefully, we can get him back up and going, and I’m still confident he’ll be playing some footy for us in 2018 at some stage.”

Bell Park, which exited the finals in straight sets after finishing the home-and-away season in second spot will play three practice matches, starting with Torquay on March 16.